水至清则无鱼
shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú

if the water is too clear, there will be no fish

  • created reference approved 水至清则无鱼/水至清則無魚 → 水清无鱼/水清無魚 (same_as) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    水至清则无鱼 / 水至清則無魚 shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú

    水清无鱼 / 水清無魚 shuǐ​qīng​wú​yú

    same_as

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 水至清则无鱼/水至清則無魚 · shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú · if the water is too clear, there will be no fish — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    水至清则无鱼 / 水至清則無魚

    shuǐ​zhì​qīng​zé​wú​yú

    if the water is too clear, there will be no fish

    If water is too clean, fish cannot survive; used as a metaphor to suggest that being overly strict or faultfinding will alienate others and leave one without followers or friends.

    水 (literal) → 水 · shuǐ · water 至 (literal) → 至 · zhì · extremely 清 (literal) → 清 · qīng · clear 则 (literal) → 则/則 · zé · then 无 (literal) → 无/無 · wú · to not have 鱼 (literal) → 鱼/魚 · yú · fish

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense